Our curiosity was piqued last week when former congressional candidate Mike Hathorn was spotted at a Russellville restaurant lunching with friend and local attorney Alex Streett.

Streett is known as a man to go see in Pope County for a Democrat considering a run, and is open with his political advice. Hathorn has been rumored in this space before as a potential candidate for attorney general next year, and although we are not math majors, two plus two equaled four on our political calculator.

Instead of attorney general, Hathorn announced Tuesday for the soon-to-be open lieutenant governor spot (we were close), a position that has not been occupied by a Democrat in more than a decade. He joins state Sen. Tim Wooldridge, a Democrat from Paragould, who already announced his candidacy for the position. Word is Hathorn was scared away from the AG race by potential candidate Dustin McDaniel, a Jonesboro attorney whose family has lots of money.

Focusing on Hathorn's chosen race, Pope County would be a tough county for Hathorn to carry in a general election, but we suspect he isn't looking that far ahead - yet. While he did give Republican U.S. Rep. John Boozman a nice run here, this is the same county that last year choose ultra-conservative Republican Jim Holt over moderate and popular Democrat Blanche Lincoln, and put Republican Donna Wall into the treasurer's office as the party's first candidate to achieve one of the coveted "courthouse seats."

Hathorn has to like his chances here in a Democratic primary, though, one that right now would involve only him and a little-known East Arkansas Democrat. When he was in Russellville last year campaigning at a Democratic event for congressional candidate Jan Judy, everyone in the crowded room knew "Mike," and vice versa. Democrats here love him and lined up to visit with him that day, almost overshadowing Judy's appearance.

Perhaps most importantly, his race against Boozman, albeit a loss, put him in a good position for this race. Voters in big elections generally respect those who lose their first time out and try again. Bill Clinton lost in his first race and so did Mike Huckabee, both rebounding their second time around. And Hathorn put a lot on the line to run for a position many saw as unwinable, sacrificing to ensure Democrats did not roll over and play dead. Many respect him for that.

The biggest obstacle facing Hathorn may now be Democrat state Rep. Jay Martin, a Pulaski County attorney and present majority leader of the Arkansas House of Representatives who has also made noises about running for lieutenant governor. Pulaski County is to Democratic primaries as Northwest Arkansas is to Republican ones, so Hathorn would need to overcome a possible Little Rock home-field advantage if Martin jumps in.

Hathorn's entrance into the race likely means two others are out - former gubernatorial candidate Jimmie Lou Fisher and current state Sen. Shane Broadway. We suspect Hathorn would not knowingly get into a state-wide contest with either of those big-wigs. Fisher's absence is sad if true, because we were looking forward to a return from the woman who gave the state one of the most impassioned political campaigns three years ago in her race against Huckabee.

Hathorn has his own way to energize voters, however, as we've seen before. We look forward to seeing what central and southern and eastern Arkansas Democrats think of him, and we expect him to be welcomed there in the same way many Pope County Democrats have embraced him.